It's a Hobby
by Jish
Summary: Kyle accidentally discovers a hobby of Stan's that he keeps secret. Stan opens up to him about it, and Kyle reveals something he likes that he too is embarrassed about. They have a discussion and open up, and realize that they have nothing to be embarrassed about at all. They learn to embrace it! COMPLETE.


**Disclaimer: I do not in ANY WAY own South Park.**

**A/N: This is a small story that came to me after I talked to some friends about my professional wrestling interest, and how I was mocked a bit for it. But pretty much, this story is just a message to readers to not be ashamed of your harmless, entertaining hobbies or interests.**

**Also, please review!**

**Description: Kyle accidentally discovers a hobby of Stan's that he keeps secret. Stan opens up to him about it, and Kyle reveals something he likes that he too is embarrassed about. They have a discussion and open up, and realize that they have nothing to be embarrassed about at all. They learn to embrace it!**

**Here it is:**

**It's a Hobby**

"Ugh, fuck. I forgot them at home. You have any markers?" Kyle asks to his best friend, as they try to finish their homework.

Kyle _hates_ his history class – always having to color on maps and shit that they handout. It's easy as hell, but the teacher is very pedantic and detail-obsessive can needs his full attention or he'll lose easy points.

Stan – the lucky asshole – has the _easiest_ history class in school and doesn't have to deal with this shit.

"Yeah, they're in my desk. And I have to take a piss – be right back." Stan says, pointing his neck to the desk as he gets out of bed and walks out the door to the bathroom.

Kyle groans and gets up – having to move to the papers spread all around him – and heads over to Stan's desk and opens the small drawer on the right side, where he thinks his markers would be.

Opening the drawer, Kyle doesn't instantly see any markers. Instead, his eyes land upon a piece of plastic.

A piece of plastic that clearly identifies what it is – a toy called a Tamagotchi.

Now, Kyle is extremely surprised. He never had one personally as a kid, but he knows a lot of their schoolmates did once upon a time. They were always connecting them, giving presents and whatnot, and it seemed..._boring_ to Kyle. If other people liked them, amazing. But Kyle was never interested.

One thing that turned Kyle off the most was that they were said to need a lot of work and attention. He remembers people coming to school one day upset that their Tamagotchi had died, having to start over.

So, if that's true, then Kyle is surprised that Stan has one (for how long he has no idea) and that Kyle never knew. Because if they take time and attention, wouldn't Kyle have seen it by now?

Well, there are two scenarios: One, Stan had _just_ started it – because (as far as he knows) Stan never had one when they were kids. Or two, Stan has had one for some time and has kept it hidden.

And if it's the second scenario, Kyle could understand that. Stan and Kyle are eighteen years old and are graduating high school in two months. And they are both guys. So, they are out of the target demographics for these _toys_. So, Stan may be embarrassed/ashamed to have one of these toys.

And Kyle understands that because he feels that towards one of the things he likes too...

But on the screen as Kyle can see, Stan's pet-thing is _crying _(and it's in _color –_ Kyle distinctly remembers them being in black pixels only). That means it wants something from Stan, right? It didn't make any sound, and Kyle can remember those things going off in classes and kids getting in trouble until they learned to _mute_ the damn things.

So, Stan's Tamagotchi needs _something_ and it's on mute. And kept in a drawer.

Kyle thinks Stan may be hiding it.

But Kyle closes the drawer and opens the larger drawer beneath that one in a continued search for the markers, and he finally finds them and takes them out and gets back on the bed to resume his homework.

And when Stan comes back a minute or two later (Kyle has no idea the time – the map coloring is sucking the life out of him), Kyle tells Stan about his crying pet.

"Dude, your Tamagotchi's crying. You should check on it." He says, not really _caring_ about Stan's toy or whatever, but he doesn't want Stan to be upset if he really does care about it.

"...Umm, okay...Thank you..." Stan says, looking at Kyle as he groans at his map assignment.

* * *

This isn't good.

Kyle _knows_. Kyle knows about Stan's Tamagotchi, _knows_ that it's one of the newer ones because the ones back then didn't fucking have _color_.

Stan _knew_ he forgot to do something this morning. Usually when he knows Kyle's gonna come over, he puts it somewhere Kyle would never look on his own. Stan knows that sometimes Kyle rummages through his desk drawer looking for a pen, or stapler or something. Stan's alright with that.

And this time, Stan even _said_ to look in the drawer for the markers.

But his idiot father came in the room this morning and demanded him to hurry up because he had to leave early. So Stan stuck his Tama in his desk drawer to hide it from Randy so he wouldn't make fun of him and Stan rushed downstairs to eat breakfast and get driven to school (though he has his license, there's only two cars and his parents both work).

So he left his Tama in his desk and forgot about it being _there_ when Kyle came over.

Stan opens his desk drawer and sees Link (his Tama's name – named after his favorite video game hero) crying. Stan picks it up and gives Link some praise (and can't help the small smile that appears on his face when Link gets so _happy_) and sets him down on the desk after making sure all his stats are good.

And then while Kyle continues to groan and moan about his stupid homework assignment (the one time Stan is actually _grateful_ to not be in a class with his best friend), Kyle speaks up.

"Is it still alive?" Kyle asks, and Stan is stunned for a second. Glancing over to his Tama, Stand responds.

"Yeah, it just felt sad and needed some praise." And Stan _regrets _saying that because it makes him sound like a _geeky weirdo_.

"Oh? Okay. I don't know what that means, but I'm glad it didn't die. I know those things are a handful." Kyle says.

"Yeah." Stan says, unsure of what _else_ he can say.

"How old is it?" Kyle asks, cursing at his map again.

"Um, it's only a day old, but his parents left." Stan says, wanting to jut stop at 'a day old' but can't help himself.

"_Parents?_ They have _kids?"_ Kyle asks incredulously, looking up from his homework.

"Actually, Link is a twentieth-generation Tama..." Stan says, wishing he could just _shut his goddamn trap_.

"Wow...that's a lot. I'm really glad it's alright because that must have taken a lot of work. And you call it Link?" Kyle asks, and Stan is surprised that Kyle is so _accepting_.

"Yeah, that's his name. I always name them after things I like." Stan says, not feeling _totally_ idiotic for the first time since he peed.

"How long have you had the toy?" Kyle asks, and Stan misses the _very brief_ period of time he didn't feel so bad because that's already over.

"Um, this model for a few months. Got it when it came out." Stan says, remembering how he gave his mother the money to buy it for him online with her credit card as it wasn't released in the US.

"Oh, I figured you just got it because you never mentioned it." Kyle says, deliberately not saying his _other_ hypothesis because Stan's opening up about it and he doesn't want to make Stan feel bad by accusing him of hiding something.

"No, it's just that...dude, you're really alright with this?" Stan asks, losing his composure.

"With what, dude?" Kyle asks, feigning ignorance.

"_Dude!"_ Stan gets out, frustrated.

"Fine. _Yes_, Stan, I am totally fine with you having a hobby! I know it's...not exactly common with guys our age, but it's fine!" Kyle says, internally struggling with himself.

Because what Kyle is saying is conflicting with what he is feeling for himself.

"Yeah, like I can _totally_ bring it to school and care for it there. I've never been able to get the best evolution because I _can't bring it to school_! Imagine what everyone would say! Cartman, Token, the other assholes. They'd totally make fun of me! Hell, I wouldn't put it past them to try to take it or break it! You don't understand!" Stan counters, getting it all out.

"Yeah I do!" Kyle counters, because he really _does_ know.

"Oh yeah, _how?_" Stan asks, because how would _Kyle _know?

"Well, I may not have Tamagotchi, but I _do_ love Taylor Swift music. Like – I listen to her stuff all the time when I'm alone. Yeah, I'm a guy graduating _high school_, and I'm a fucking Taylor Swift fan. I can recite all the lyrics from the past three albums." Kyle confesses.

"Oh." Is all Stan can say.

"Yeah. I'm kinda in the same boat. I can't talk about her new single, and how excited I am about her upcoming album. I can't _sing_ when I listen to my music with other people – and I always want to sing. Cartman and Token and hell, probably even _Kenny_ would get on my case for liking her music.

"Hell, once I even mentioned that I heard this song by her and I said it wasn't '_that bad'_ and I left it at that – and everyone said that she was terrible and that fans of her are 'retarded.' I felt _terrible._" Kyle continues, and Stan is getting it.

Both of them have been hiding something about themselves from each other and all their friends. Something that they both like, and that makes them happy.

Stan's Tamagotchi makes him happy when he sees his Tama bouncing around happily on his screen, when he sees how his care influenced the evolution.

And Kyle is a sap for Taylor Swift's catchy, pop, romance and love songs. He loves the encouraging lyrics, the pumping beats, the background harmonies, the lyrics of her music.

"Okay, then how about this? We start by showing each other. I show you my Tamas, and we listen to some of your favorite Taylor Swift songs?" Stan suggests, because _both of them_ need an outlet from their solitude.

"...Okay!" Kyle agrees, loving the idea!

* * *

The first song they listened to was '_Getaway Car', _one of Kyle's personal favorites. And Stan had to admit, it was pretty fucking awesome!

Then Kyle put his Taylor Swift playlist on shuffle, and Stan shows him his _collection_ of Tamagotchi when _'I Knew You Were Trouble_' started playing.

When they released these 'Originals' a year or so ago, Stan picked one up because he always wanted one as a kid but never asked for one. It was simple for him, but he liked it.

He was searching online for a new Tama - ones with more features, games, and whatnot - for a while then he saw these two for _cheap (_Stan imagines the seller had no idea what they were worth) and his Mom got it for him (because Randy would have just teased him and called him a 'pansy' or some shit like that).

Then Stan started browsing online and found a website that imported the newest Tamas from Japan, and Stan _had_ to get the most recent one because of all the _features_ and _combinations_ and it just excited him!

"Wow, I had no idea these were so complex!" Kyle marvels at Stan's newest Tamagotchi. It did sound cool!

"And I never would have guess that _Taylor Swift_ would actually have _this good_ of music. Like fuck! It's just her and a guitar and she's killing it!" Stan says, referring to her song '_Treacherous._'

"You know dude, I know you didn't intend for me to find it, but I'm glad I saw your Tama and that we did this. We can _talk_ to each other about this stuff now..." Kyle trails off.

"Yeah, me too." Stan says, when he suddenly has an idea.. "Hey, Kyle, feel free to say no, but would you wanna try raising a Tama? I don't use this one anymore now that I have the color..." Stan offers, holding out one from the pair he got.

"Oh wow...sure! It seems like fun!" Kyle says, when he has an idea of his own. "And Stan, I think I know how you can test people's reactions at school. Maybe bring _this one,"_ Kyle says, pointing to the first Tama that Stan said he got, "and see what they do. You can test our friends without putting your color at risk." Kyle finishes.

"Hey, yeah! That could work! And you can also mention Taylor's new single that just came out – say you saw a clip and that it sounded good. I'll agree with you." Because Stan _does_ agree that it's a good song!

"Deal!"

* * *

"Hey, fags." Cartman greets Stan and Kyle, who just roll their eyes. It's funny – he doesn't call _Butters_ – who actually is gay – 'fag' anymore because he's gay. He only calls us that word because Stan and I are straight.

(Though he _does_ call Craig and Tweek that word still, but that's probably just because he hates Craig and calling Tweek that word is the easiest way to piss Craig off.)

"Hey, fatass. What's going on?" Kyle answers them, going to his locker. He puts his History notebook in his locker – with that fucking map assignment finally finished, _fuck_ – and everyone hears a loud '_beep_' coming from Stan.

Stan timed it so that his original Tama would hatch as soon as they got to their lockers, so he would have an excuse to take it out in front of Cartman, Kenny, Butters, and Wendy.

Stan pulls out his Tama, and gives a _genuine smile _at the little baby on the screen, knowing that it's definitely going to be getting a lot of attention today.

"The hell, Stan? Is that one of those stupid Tamagotchi things from when we were kids? You actually have that crap? You're a bigger hippy fag than I thought." Cartman says as soon as Stan takes his Tama out from his pocket and sees it evolving.

(Kyle smiles at the baby Tama too.)

"Shut up, Fatass. Leave him alone. Anyway, did anyone hear that new Taylor Swift song? It came on in an ad and I thought it was actually pretty good!" Kyle says, and Cartman _and _Wendy sneer.

"Oh, she's the worst. Just a money-hungry bitch like all the other 'pop-stars.'" Wendy says, and Kyle frowns.

"I heard it too – I liked it. Not _amazing_, but it was good!" Stan says. (Both of them do agree it wasn't her best song ever, but it was pretty good.)

"She sucks worse than how much Paris Hilton _and _Mr. Slave are whores. Fuck, you two like that shit?" Cartman says.

"I kinda liked it!" Butters speaks up, and Cartman just scoffs.

"Because you're gay, Butters. Only gay dudes like Taylor Swift. Because gay dudes are basically chicks." Cartman says, and _everyone_ groans.

"Have you guys even _listened_ to her music before judging her?" Kenny asks. "Because I thought the song was okay. I much prefer the sound of her last album, though, but we have to see how it goes." He adds.

Stan and Kyle are _stunned_. It looks like they were wrong about how they thought Kenny would react – because it seems like he is a Taylor fan too!

"I'll never listen to that formulaic pop shit. It's so fake." Wendy says, and all Stan, Kenny, and Kyle do are shrug.

"Whatever, just don't get all pissy when we start talking about her music now." Kenny says, nodding at Stan and Kyle.

"Hey Stan, can you show me your Tamagotchi? I had one of those as a kid but my Dad made me get rid of it and said it wasn't 'manly.'" Butters asks, wanting to see since Stan first pulled it out.

"Sure, Butters! Oh, look! It just pooped!" Stan says, and Butters eagerly looks at Stan's Tama.

So despite Cartman's total ignorance and mean-spirit for everything involved, and Wendy's total disregard for her friends' musical preferences (though she did take a look at Stan's Tama), Stan and Kyle – and Kenny and Butters too! - learn that their hobbies and interests are _fine_.

They all learned that though they may be guys and going to be in college in less than a year, they can like music and toys for 'girls' and whatnot. It entertains them and it doesn't hurt anyone – in fact, it brought them _closer – _so they have no reason to be ashamed.

**A/N: First, I wrote this story because I often get a lot of heat from my friends for being a professional wrestling fan. I know it's scripted and made to look dangerous, yet I still cheer and boo my favorite wrestlers. My friends know that I'm aware of the reality, yet I still get heat for it because they just say it's "fake." Of **_**course **_**it's fake – I don't need to tell you that '**_**Game of Thrones'**_** is fake too, do I?**

**So I was thinking what else could be like that for someone. I knew Tamagotchis were still a thing, and after a few seconds of research, I learned about the color models (I have no idea if the color Tamagotchis work like the older ones. I'm just going based off what I remember as a kid and putting that with the new ones).**

**Anyway, the point of the story was to just show that anyone could have a guilty pleasure/hobby that they may not be the target demographic for, and it could be even your best friend. Just that there's nothing wrong with having a hobby as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, and to not be ashamed of liking a certain kind of toy, or music, or TV show, or video game, or **_**whatever**_**. :)**

**I hope you all enjoyed the small story. I'm still focusing mostly on my Naruto fic series, but I still have other ideas like this that I write too.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Also, don't forget to review!**


End file.
